So I wrote out this whole post about how terribly I’d trained and what a bad runner I must be to have come in a minute over my last PR for a 10k. Except then I woke up Monday with a fever, aches, and chills. And then my attitude went from “I suck at running” to “Dude, I am the best runner EVER!”

However, I still did (awesomely!) run/walk a pretty crappy 10k. It’s cool, I’m not ashamed now that I know I was on the verge of death (according to Web MD, my symptoms indicate I barely survived a near fatal case of lymphoma and/or pregnancy.)

So, for the 10k, in addition to having a terrible disease of some kind, I stayed up late the night before to see Cowboys and Aliens for the second time (totally awesome and worth it, by the way). This made for an Allison with absolutely no expectations at the start line for this 10k.

The first three miles were hilly, but I was expecting that, since it’s Leesburg. I don’t really remember the first three miles except for realizing at Mile 2 that, while I knew I’d finish the race with no problem and not come in last, there would likely be no PRs. And I was really okay with that.

Except I still had to finish this race, which was looking extremely arduous at this point. Miles 3 – 6.2 actually were faster than miles 1-3, possibly because my legs finally warmed up. We got rained on at mile 3.5, and I was very worried my Garmin would die from it.

Smiling awkwardly for like, 10 minutes at the dude taking my picture

Two complaints about the course – all the race information said that the first water stop was at mile 2.5. It was not. It was at mile 3.1. I spent a very sad half mile thirstily wondering how weird it would be to ask the 20k people for a sip from one of their four mini-bottles they had on their belt. Luckily, the water stop came and I was saved from a hasty friendship built on awkward conversation.

The other weird thing was the mile four mile marker was not the usual one mile away from the mile 3 marker, but about 1.4 miles. This made for a very sad and long mile three, and a lot of concern that it was taking me 14 minutes to run a mile. Then, it took me about 5.5 minutes to run from the mile four to the mile five marker, and I was delighted to realize it wasn’t me, but the course.

The rest of the race went by quickly, and I hit the finish line in 1:13:49, an 11:53 pace.

Aside from the weird mile markers, I enjoyed the Leesburg 10k/20K. Potomac River Running puts on great races, with amazing swag. So, NOVA people, I highly recommend checking out their upcoming races.

Yes, it was good even though, despite the promises in the pre-race literature, there were no cows to see. And for that, I cannot forgive.